The Church Takes A Stand Part 1

Reason for us.

Jesus phone number for you. It's not always popular to take a stand when God comes to a church in unusual power we often see encourage and resolve was not there before today. How one ancient church took it stand and how to imitate them. As darkness settles over our land from the Moody Church in Chicago this is running to win with Dr. Erwin looser was clear. Teaching helps us make it across the finish line after looser some dark days are already upon us. So today's message could not be more needed with Dave. All of us know that the dark days are indeed here when we think of the continuing effects of the pandemic and all of the ripples that have come as a result of it. We recognize that for so many people. The dark days are not only here but they seem to continue but one of the things that blesses me is that the ministry of radio continues. God cannot be quarantined.

There is no way for him in some sense to be limited to what some of our officials may or may not be telling us is a matter fact I'm told that more people are listening to radio than ever before, and I want to thank the many of you who continue to support this ministry. Let me encourage you running to win is now heard in places such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iraq and we are so gratified that there is a response from these countries would you consider helping us were so thankful that some people friends of the ministry have told us that they are willing to match your gift dollar for dollar up to $90,000. During this particular month and this emphasis now just think of what that means, your gift will be doubled and I can assure you that it will be invested in a way that will get the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible.

Yes, days are dark but this is a chance and an opportunity for us as God's people to shine light in a dark world. Here's what you can do to help us go to RTW offer.com would you consider making that gift RTW offer.com or if you prefer go to 1888 or call us. I should say at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 and now let us be encouraged as we open God's word and realize that churches have often been in darkness, but they been able to manage because of the power of the gospel.

So let me begin today with a question. What is it that you stand before what are those core values for which you would be willing to die would be possible for someone to waive big money in your face and as a result of that compromise your integrity. At what point could you be bought or could you never be bought, what you stand for, how much temptation are you willing to endure for the cause of your marriage, and for the cause of your God. I say to the young people present. How much peer pressure can you put up with and not get into drugs and alcohol. Those kinds of things. How strong is your stand was individuals. We have to stand but also as a church church has to stand for some and when you stand for something you immediately stand against something else Wilberforce in England in the late 1700s and then again he lived. Of course, until the early 1800s. He he stood with the slaves against slavery.

He stood for something, and despite a hard time and being able spoken against, and an midgrade opposition. It was his efforts that eventually put an end to that social injustice churches need to stand.

We stand for doctrine, we stand for social justice.

We stand against the current of society and we become greatly countercultural for what we do stand. We stand for the unborn, because we have a stand that is important to us. Now what you find is that the church in Thessalonica and you know that this is a series of messages that is titled when God comes to church because when God comes and begins to do a great work in the lives of people. There's a transformation of heart and there's a transformation of values and that happened in the church of Thessalonica, things changed because God was there and the apostle Paul was talking to the church because they were going through a time of persecution. In fact, he says to this you were appointed a hard time in the Christian life is appointed to you by God. If, in your workplace. If, in your relationships you are going through a difficult time that all is a part of the Christian life and the growing experience that all of us have as we walk with God and Paul discovered that this church even though vocationally they were being marginalized. They couldn't get the best jobs even though they were being ridiculed for their faith. And even though measures were being taken against them, even including being thrown in jail.

They stood and pulses for that I am deeply, deeply grateful. The key verse in today's message is actually found in the third chapter of first Thessalonians were you can turn first Thessalonians chapter 3 and that it's in verse eight. If you're in the habit of underlining your Bibles. This would be a good verse to underline. It is very brief and it is the heart and soul of what I'm speaking about today. Notice that Paul says, first Thessalonians chapter 3 verse eight. For now we live. If you are standing fast in the Lord. Paul is saying. At last I can breathe again.

At last I can relax and be joyful because I've heard that you are standing firm.

The term is a military term, it means that you stand when arrows are being shot at you.

It's means that you stand when it's difficult to stand in good weather.

In bad weather you stand when others stand with you and you stand if you need to stand alone, but you stand pulses now I can live I heard that you are standing fast and the apostle Paul says that there's a possibility that they might not of you will notice in verse five he says, for this reason, when I could bear it no longer I sent to learn about your faith for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you, and our labor would be in vain.

That's quite a warning pulses. I was so concerned about you because that it's possible that the devil derailed you in your walk with God, the devil does three things regarding our faith.

First of all he wants to prevent our faith.

The Bible says that even blinds the minds of those or listening are some of you are listening today and you may even hear the words but it's not going to have an opportunity to sink deeply into your heart and there's a battle going on. There's even a battle going on for you to concentrate on what I'm saying. Jesus said that the tempter not only blinds the minds with sometimes he snatches faith right out of people's hearts. That's what it says in the parable that Jesus said the seed is sown, which is the word of God and he says some of the seed falls on a hard road and the birds come and eat it later on. He explains that the birds are the devil that snatches the word of God out of people's mind. Some of you will struggle to remember what it is that I even spoke about because of the battle that's going on and if the devil can't do that then he discourages us a long illness friends that betray us.

The difficulties will erode our faith because that is what he's after.

So Paul says I was really concerned that maybe the devil got his way and it turns out that you really are following God and so Paul was so glad that that was wrong was the apostle Paul strengthened the church how what is his contribution to making this congregation strong enough to weather the storm and the way in which Paul strengthens the church is the very same way in which you and I strengthen each other.

If you send a child to college you want that child to have backbone you want that child to stand against the possibility of the debauchery that will be available to him or to hurt you want to that child to stand what is your contribution what is the child's contribution. How do we stand, and the reason it is difficult to status because the temptations come from within. The desire of flesh and of the mind is pulses and then of course peer pressure at prayer meeting were praying for prodigal's and were fasting and were praying were serious about this business of prodigal's and if you ask the prodigal's why did you leave the faith and leave home. Almost always. I got in with the wrong crowd built sites.

The power of influence, and so you have the. The struggle within, and you have the pressure without and the temptation is that you fall away, not from the faith ultimately but but that you just live in vain because of the pressure. How do we help people. Well, I hope that you're ready because were going to give you Paul's strategy and in the end it will transform your life, the life of your friends and the life of the church. If we take it seriously, thanks for joining us on the journey. First of all, the apostle Paul encouraged the church by sending Timothy begins in verse one by saying that when I could bear it no longer is is I just couldn't.

I had to find out how you were doing. He says I sent Timothy, our brother and God's coworker in the gospel of Christ to establish and exhort you pull couldn't go there himself because there was criticism of him your member.

He was run out of town. If you been following this series of messages and so he couldn't go back and he was busy at Athens and choices Timothy, I'm sending you.

I want you to find out how the church is doing, but I want you to establish them so that they are strengthened to stand and what is Timothy Percival he's a brother is a fellow Christian pulses. He's a fellow servant, a fellow laborer which shows you that he was really a team player he was going to be there not coming to lord it over this congregation, but to help this congregation.

Paul elsewhere calls him as servant. I a dioxide Gnostic which is really the word deacon you know you say what should deacons be doing here at the church. What what does it deacon do well deacons do many different things, but one of the things the deacon should be doing is standing alongside of others to strengthen them that they themselves will be strengthened in the process.

That's part of the responsibility within the church of being a deacon. In fact Timothy was so unusual he was so young that Paul had to kind of defend his youth and pulses I have nobody else he says in Philippians that is willing to care for you. Like Timothy because everybody is seeking their own thing they're all doing their own bases.

Timothy will have your good in mind so pulses I'm sending Timothy to help establish you. How do we stand out as the young man the soldier in the military, the Christian soldier who goes into the military where he surrounded by all these opportunities to waste his life morally and in other ways. How does he stand the answer is with the help of others students when you go off to college. As a Christian student. The first thing you should do before you get your room organized is to find the Christian groups on campus and joining them and become a part of Bible studies and a part of friendships because apart from that I can predict with almost absolute certainty.

You will not stand. Nobody stands alone. That's why we need one another and when it comes to churches. How do we stand we help one another. That's why we sent to this team to India to strengthen the church because we have resources we have books we have more money we have opportunities to be trained and they don't have that. So how do we strengthen the church we go there we send short-term missionaries to different parts of the world, with the intention of helping the church to stand, I say to you today. My Christian friend that if you are standing. Stand alongside someone else that you can help stand for the faith in the encouraged so that's the first thing that pole did he sent Timothy. Secondly, pulses it's not only necessary that you have someone beside you, but it's also necessary that you know some things and so he wrote first and second Timothy all the letters that Paul wrote are not necessarily part of inspired Scripture. There are apparently some.

He wrote that wrote that were so localized that they were not included as inspired Scripture but first and second Timothy are inspired Scripture and so Paul wrote to them and what did he say in these two letters he wrote to the church well I he talked about himself.

He was defending his ministry, but also what he was doing is is taking people and helping them understand those doctrines that are going to make them sound in the faith and able to stand he can't stand without knowledge without understanding and so I in the first and second Timothy that he talks about God. In chapter 1, as we learn who chose the church. He talks about the church in the past. It originated in God's heart and then he talks about the return of Jesus Christ in the future. 33 verses of first Timothy are devoted to the return of Christ, and that will be one of our messages in this series and in between.

He speaks about the ministry of the Holy Spirit, who will energize who will help who come alongside of us to help us to stand and to be encouraged. You see, we need the word of God all the time if were going to stand and the reason is because the grace is that we receive it day by day fade away at times. Maybe you've left the service on a Sunday morning and you just felt that you could take on the world and then on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and wore off, and pretty soon you are back into the same old sinful rots. It's because the grace that you received today won't carry you for tomorrow you need new grace. That's why you're in the word every day because the Bible is food that nourishes us. It is light that guides us and it is a weapon that defends us. You need the word of God. If you're going to stand absolutely and it is essential. As you know I don't wear a clerical collar there some ministers that do and there are reasons why I don't and their reasons why others would disagree with that and that's not my point today, but I do think that there is one advantage to wearing a clerical collar. I heard a minister say who wears one that he he wears it all the time seven days a week because he said it keeps him from temptations that he would otherwise fall into because he said with a clerical collar you will never go into tawdry place some connection that is sinful because after all, you do represent God and everybody around you knows that you represent God and so you stay away from those compromises that would make God look bad in the eyes of the watching world.

Now how do we resist temptation. We have to know who we are, know who we belong to know who we represent and that can come to us only through the word of God, and it is through that that we are strengthened to stand even if we must stand. So Paul says. First of all, I send someone to help. Secondly he says I give people information and thirdly incredibly important.

He says I pray let's pick up the text.

Now in verse nine he says for what Thanksgiving can we return to God for you for all the joy that we feel for your sake before God. As we pray most earnestly 98 and day, that we may see your face and supply what is lacking in your faith just that far for a moment.

Notice the intensity of the prayer he says I pray earnestly notice the frequency of it. He prays he says they and night. That didn't mean that all the cold it was stopped for prayer, but the burden to pray was so heavy on his soul that even when he was working making tensor even when he was going to the congregations even when he was preaching even as he was working with people he was praying all the time because the burden was there to pray earnestly and intensely day and night. See one of the things that God wants to do in our lives is to birth within us. This kind of a passion for prayer and end. That's why we are so thankful for all those who do attend prayer meeting.

Though some of you For whatever reason, but but there is a passion that God wants to develop within us so that our will and his will, are harmonized and as we cry out to God with passion and fervency.

God says now you have shown your seriousness and I will answer pulses day and night, I prayed some of us have committed to pray one hour per week. All this year and some of you are struggling already at this point in the process and the reason that you are struggling is because you don't want to just say the same old thing in the same old way and you don't have to. How do you pray you take the biblical prayers and you pray them you pray chapters of the Bible.

It's amazing how prayers arise out of chapters in the Bible that you might not think are specifically devoted to prayer but noticeable prays for these people. He doesn't pray like we do. Almost always, we pray for physical healing so-and-so is a difficulty in and we pray and and we believe that that scriptural and it might be of interest for you to know that we as elders I met this morning to anoint someone with oil and to pray for her and her physical difficulties.

So we believe in that but Paul didn't concentrate on. He was after bigger issues. He had other fish to fry. He was interested in the in praying.

First of all, for their faith.

That's what he says there in verse 10, because that's always what is at stake, and secondly, in verse 11, he says, may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another. That's essential if you're going to stand because you have to stand together and the verse 13 so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before God and father of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all the same. What you pray for, pray for faith. It's the most critical see nobody plunges into sin unless first of all, their faith is gone, you know, even as I listen to the words of Scripture. My heart is gripped because I think of the early church. The church in Thessalonica that had to deal with dark this also just as we do, and as a result of the power of the gospel. They were able to endure and to do so faithfully.

Did you know that the ministry of running to win actually is heard on more than 100 stations in Spanish across Central and South America. As a matter fact, one of our Spanish listeners rodents that I thank God for this ministry and for the message that I heard I've been going through a very difficult situation with my daughter who left home with her boyfriend. I felt that Satan was attacking but God opened my eyes to new hope. I believe that God is a perfect plan for her and that he will not leave her alone. My prayers are not in vain, and then the letter goes on to thank us for this ministry, but I need to thank you today for this ministry. It is because of people like you who support the ministry of running to win that we can have an impact in so many different countries. Right now we're in the middle of a matching gift challenge. What that means is anything that you contribute toward running to win will be doubled. Would you consider helping us here is what you do go to RTW offer.com that's RTW offer.com or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to is running to when 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 running to win comes from the Moody Church in Chicago help you understand God's roadmap for your race of life. Next time more on finding the strength to stand for Christ.

When the going gets to thanks for listening for Dr. Erwin Luzerne this is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church